Where In The World Is Tortall?
by TheTeapotBanditOfCandyland
Summary: Your typical meandmyfriendsgotmagicallytransportedtoTortall story...with a twist. An idea I've had in my head for a while finally written down. CHAPTER 3 IS UP!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I'm only typing this once. I DON'T OWN TAMORA PIERCE'S CHARACTERS AND PLACES. And if you think I do, you are SERIOUSLY on something. 

A/N: This is an idea I've had in my head for a while now, so read on! The actual meat of the story and conxept won't come until later though. Rated for safety.

One warm July night, five girls lounged about on the floor of a rather bland living room, talking and laughing at eachother's jokes. Suddenly, a bright-eyed bunette burst through the adjoining door that led to the kitchen, carrying a colorful cardboard box with her.

"I have them!", she exclaimed as she set the box down. Upon further examination, the confused girls squealed in delight at the snack their friend had brought them: Gushers.

Each girl opened a pack, and curiously enough, each pack held only one gusher, in six different colors for the six girls. The brunette looked at her pink fruit snack with caution. She'd had an odd feeling about the packages as she'd handed them out to her friends, and now something was just telling her brain what to say.

"We should eat them in rainbow order.", she sad matter-of-factly

"Why? Melody, this is no time for your OCD to kick in.", said a petite girl with dishwater-blonde hair.

"I just have this feeling." , the girl called Melody said. So they did. And no sooner had the last girl bit into her purple gusher than all six of them swirled away from the boring, gray carpet and into the sky to vanish.

Later, in a realm called Tortall and its surrounding countries, these girls would wake up, but they would be separated, and quite a good number of them would be alone.

A/N: Alright, the prologue is crap, but the first chapter isn't all that short or suckish, so hopefully you will read on. Don't ask about the gushers please, I needed there to be something to get them out of our world, and I happened to be eating gushers, so what the heck.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: See Prologue 

Rated for safety

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The brunette called Melody cracked one eye open and, instantly regretting it, slapped a hand over her face. Where was she? It was COLD outside. IN JULY. Wait, did she just think OUTSIDE??? Uh-oh. She attempted to stand but doubled over in shock at the snow in front of her eyes. She regained her balance as she drew a cross over her head, chest, and shoulders. She was definitely not at home.

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A dark-skinned girl of no more than 15 awoke to the sounds of the turquoise surf beating rhythmically against the rocks. She was only vaguely aware of the dense jungle at her back and the warm sand underneath her prone form until a bird decided that she would make a good perch. Grumbling, she got up and looked around her. 'Oh snap' , was the only thing that she heard in her mind before fainting onto the myriad grains of bright, white sand beneath her.

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Bleary blue-green eyes awoke to numerous pairs of curious brown ones. The girl whose eyes where of the former color jumped up and shrieked in surprise. The people around her didn't seem to mind, although they began rattling off something in a language that brought the girl to recall her visits to se her aunt in Japan and began gently nudging her through an oddly shaped gate-like thing and into a beautiful garden, complete with a fishpond. 'What in the world is going on?!?'

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The hot, desert sun beat down on a teenager's soft caramel skin. Already awake, she was surveying the land around her and trying to take in the vastness of her surroundings without going insane with confusion. 'What happened?',was all she could bring herself to think about while she waited for the sun to go down a bit more.

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A short, stocky 16-year-old girl leaned against a pine tree as she sighed with content. She LOVED the woods. And animals. And anything not pink, fluffy, or girly in any respect. Her eyes flew open as fast as bodily possible with those thoughts. She was in a quiet, peaceful clearing in the middle of what appeared to be a forest of pines. The rabbits and birds that had been eyeing her warily for being in their clearing fluttered and scampered away in alarm when she awoke so abruptly. 'Why on God's greed earth am I in the WOODS?!?'

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In the Royal Courtyard in Corus, Tortall, maids began shrieking their alarm as an freckle-faced teen appeared out of no where. As she lifted her eyelids to reveal two dusty hazel orbs, she was surrounded by people she didn't know and who didn't know her. At the front of this crowd, a pale man with black hair and beard and the most astonishingly blue eyes she had ever seen stood next to a short woman with hair a little brighter than her own dull orange. Before she could study these people a little closer, she was being whisked away by maids to God-only-knew where.

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A/N: OK, so it's not my best work, but I like it. These girls are all based on me and my friends (I'm the first one :P) , although I only kept their personalities and appearances the same; I changed some things that haven't even come up yet, such as heritage but you'll see why later. The little blue button is your friend!!


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See Prologue

A/N: AHHHH! I got reviews after one day!!! Happy dance I am going to try to answer all my reviews personally as much as possible.Hopefully this chapter is a little longer than the last two. Those were more introductory bits. Any guesses as to where they are??

Abiona Marchand: Thanks!! I would have thought that too. There are six girls and you'll see their names soon I promise.

I live Life by My own Rules: A gusher is like this little fruit snack thing with juicy stuff in the center. and yes, my name is Melody. HAHA it is supposed to be green earth. I'll try to fix that.

Thayet1232: Ahaha I will attempt to be unlike you then:P

And now, onto the next chapter!!!

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The girl named Melody had no idea of how long she had been trudging through the snow. The fluffy white stuff had been fun and pretty for about the first fifteen minutes, until it started to get cold and wet. The glistening snow went on for miles in every direction and it seemed like time was playing a rather mean trick on her and purposefully slowing down.

'_Well, at least I'm wearing boots_.' , she thought, although instantly took it back, thinking that perhaps black suede, pointy-toed, skinny-heeled boots were not exactly the kind you wore in the snow. She was just beginning to realize her undying hatred for really thin pajama pants when she spotted a wisp of smoke over the top of the hill in front of her. Her heart and her brain began to race. Was it really smoke? Or just some trick of the light? What if it WAS smoke? Maybe there was a village with it, or something like that.

She raced up the hill as fast as humanly possible in pointy boots and pajama pants would allow, and there it was, lying before her: Buildings. People. FOOD. And with that thought she began to make her way down the hill.

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When she finally felt the fog around her brain begin to lift, the girl got up off of the white sand that was in almost direct contrast with her dark skin. _'I had the weirdest dream' _, she thought, until she opened her eyes and realized it wasn't a dream. It was REAL.

She looked out across the foam-capped tuqouise waves in front of her to see a huge, three-masted ship. As she attempted to flag it down, she saw white men in some sort of uniform point and laugh. Were they pointing at her? The ship turned and disappeared around the other side of the island.

As the heat beat down on her, she was suddenly grateful for not taking off her bathing suit before bed and wearing only shorts and a tank top over top of it. She rested on a rock and stuck her feet in the cool water as she fiddled with the gold 'ALEXA' necklace around her neck nervously. After a good long panic period, she finally calmed down and began to walk down the soft beach, Jumping every couple of steps as the sun-scorched sand burnt her feet.

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She was being lead into an enormous building and was staring in awe when she realized that one of her "captors" was talking to her. She barely understood what was said, but it sounded vaguely like the japanese words for "What is your name?".

"Alix," she said, " with an I. "

She was led through richly painted hallways and rooms lavishly adorned with tapestries and paintings and into a large chamber that was almost completely barren of any furnishings other than a small throne, upon which sat an equally small man. She saw the others around her bow just in time to fumble it herself and rise back up without being noticed. The man and the woman with the burnt-gold skin who had asked her name earlier began rattling off a conversation in their strange language and the blonde thought she heard something that sounded a little like "Alex Withani".

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Then sun finally began to set on the blaring desert, and as steam rose from the cooling sands, a girl of no particular interest climbed out from behind the rock where she had been hiding from the sun's relentless rays. Sure she'd been to India before in summer to see family and such, but this heat was ridiculous.

As she set off towards the east, where the setting sun wouldn't blind her, she thought. She thought long and hard about where she was and what had happened. Of course, she was only thinking about her own world and the deserts there until she began to think outside of the box that was her imagination. She could be anywhere. if she could be swept up from her friend's house in the middle of what was turning out to be a really fun girl's night, then surely she could be in another world, on another planet, in another _dimension_.

Just as the first stars were poking their way through a navy blue net of sky, her ears picked up a sound. No, wait. A LOT of sounds. A whole city's worth of sound. There were people nearby. In a city. She had to get there. She quickened her pace and scanned the area around her until she saw a mass of huddled, twinkling lights. She ran full out now, racing for the city. She finally made it through the gates just as they were closing. _Gates?_ That was odd. She slowed down and finally had to sit on a nearby bench to calm her pounding heart. Why were all the women wearing veils? Hmmm...

"Manpreet!!", she heard someone call her name and she jerked her head up, but realized it was just a pair of children playing tag in the streets. That was another weird thing. the streets. They were _cobblestone_. Not asphalt, not even gravel. _COBBLESTONE. _Something was definitely not right.

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"Don't panic. Don't panic.", whispered a brunette girl to herself as her brown eyes darted from the trees around her to the sky in a silent prayer to whatever god/gods there were.

She thought on what to do, and realized she had kept her cell phone in the back pocket of her jeans that night. She whipped out the shiny block, flipping it open and tapping her foot impatiently as the phone offered its slow, un-enthusiastic greeting of "Hello, Shae." Damn. No signal. She'd just have to walk around until she found one.

She wandered through the quiet forest, trying not to upset anything while waving her phone in the air, trying to a signal. Any signal. Even one bar would be a blessing. Suddenly, the forest ended as abruptly as she'd been dropped into it. Before her lay small farms with pastures of cows and horses alike. She loved horses. Maybe she could talk to the owners and see if she could borrow their phone. She set off towards the first farmhouse she could see, no longer waving her phone about like some absurd fan.

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As the girl with the hazel eyes bit her fingernails nervously, the door creaked open. The man and woman from earlier walked in, along with a few others, including the most beautiful woman she had ever seen and a grinning man with eyes like her own.

"How in the name of the Goddess did you just appear like that?!", demanded the red-headed woman from earlier.

"I-I don't know.", replied the girl shakily.

"Alanna, the poor girl's probably frightened to death," , said the beautiful woman, "What's your name, dear? Mine's Thayet."

"Lindsay.", said the girl, this time with more confidence. Her name, at least, was something she knew. She scanned the faces of everyone in the small room, her eyes resting on the red-headed Alanna woman. Her eyes were a rather disconcerting shade of violet. _'Surely they're just contacts' _, Lindsay told herself as the lady called Thayet began introducing everyone else.

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A/N: Any guesses as to where everyone is? Cookies to reviewers!!


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See Prologue

A/N: Whee! more reviews! Sorry it took so long, I have this weird thing about other people being around me when I type. It bothers me. So I had to wait until I was by myself. Hehehe... And to my good friend Alix, I spelled your name right this time, 'cause I know you hate it when people spell it with an E

To my reviewers:

Abiona Marchand: Three out of six of your guesses were right. And I'm so glad you think my story is awesome!

dancerboy8: Of course cookies are good! Why would I give my lovely reviewers anything less? Here is your cookie, which happens to look like a face (:.:)

CelticWater: Haha, FOOD. Yes, I can see how that would motivate people.

Thayet1231: WHEE BROWNIE!! Hehehe...wow, I'm honored that you would abandon schoolwork for my story.

Niame: Well, you got 3 and 1/2 right. Haha, the woods seem to be confusing everyone, which is great for my suspense! And yes, I have read Terrier, and now I'm counting down the months until September when Bloodhound comes out! twitches in anticipation

dragonridersrock: Thanks, glad you like it so far!

And now, onto the next chappie!!

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Melody REALLY wished she had her slinky right about now. It always helped when she was nervous or anxious or tense in any way. And now that she _really _needed a stress reliever, it was gone. With everything else. She sat down on the closest rock she could find and began to sing to herself the song that she had memorized from the Lord of the Rings movie. Singing always helped.

_Home is behind_

_The world ahead_

_And there are many paths to tread_

_Through shadow; To the edge of night_

_Until all the stars alight_

_Mist and shadow; Cloud and shade_

_All shall fade, All shall fade_

She laughed to herself. She was such a _nerd_. She actually _memorized_ that entire song. Wow. If only Shae was here. Or Alexa. Or any of the others. But they weren't.

Everyone had turned away when she asked for help. Their blue eyes were so cold, and their blond hair and pale complexion made them seem like beings formed from the very snow and ice she was standing on. She had finally spoken to a little old woman, bent over with age, who told her she was in Scanra, and that she should best get out unless she wanted to be shredded to pieces for being an outsider. Maybe her dark chocolate hair and brown-black eyes did stand out a little too much. But it wasn't her fault she was that way.

Every time she turned around, people were whispering, muttering under their breath, accusing her of being "Tortallan". What was that? Whatever it was, it was apparently not good. So that was how she had gotten here. On a rock. Cold and wet with snow. Nice. Really nice.

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Alexa had finally made it around the bend of the island (at least she thought it was an island). FINALLY. And what did she get from all that walking? Nothing. Nothing except some blindingly white and shiny mass which she assumed was supposed to be a city. It was probably full of a bunch of random people who didn't even speak her language. Great. Fantastic. It could at least have been a little less metallic or something. Even New York wasn't this blaringly shiny. Well, she had to at least TRY to talk to someone.

As she made her way through the streets of Whatsitsname Town, she caught a glimpse of shining silver at the corner of her eye. She turned to get a better look. it was a badge. Oh joy, oh happy day! Someone in a uniform that would at least try to help her, unlike that cranky old man she had accidentally walked into earlier. She drew up to her full height, not her normal slouch, and strode confidently over to the man with the badge thingy.

"Excuse me, could you tell --" , she began, but was quickly cut off by the man.

"Silence, raka dog!"

Oh no he didn't. What the heck was a raka anyways?? The other people on the street gave her mixed looks of pity and annoyance, as if it were HER fault this guy was being such a jerk. Well, good riddance. And with a rather overdone "Hmph!", she turned on her heel and walked down the crowded street, chin in the air.

After a while, she began to notice something. At first it was kind of just a little nagging at the back of her mind, like an itch that she couldn't quite scratch. Then it grew, until she was finally smacked with the realization that everyone on this street was black. Except for the gaurds and the haughty people who occasionally rode by on gargatuan horses that almost trampled anyone who came near enough. Some of those people in the street had _collars_. Thick metal ones, with red marks around them, showing where the neck of the wearer had been chafed down to raw skin.

Then she saw something else. A short little white girl, talking to a large, rather plump black woman, something that just seemed odd to Alexa in this strange place. Maybe this girl was nice. Maybe she could help. So, Alexa marched up the street, regaining her confidence and managing to keep her composure.

She tapped the girl on the shoulder."Excuse me, but could you tell me where I am? I seem to be lost.", she said innocently.

It was the big black woman who replied. "Why, you're in the Copper Isles dear. The city of Rajmuat to be exact."

Oh, boy. She was definitely not in Virginia anymore.

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She was being examined. That's right, examined. For what, she had no idea. But after being in the big, shiny room and bowing to someone she didn't even know existed, she had been prodded through a doorway and was since then being tested for just about everything.

First, they had pretty much frisked her just about everywhere, searching for hidden weapons. then she was searched for poison. And then, the big one, the one that practically shocked her to her knees, she was tested for _magic_.

Riiiigghhhtt. That's what she had thought when someone who spoke English (finally!) had told her what she was being searched for. But that was until some completely random guy had caught his hand on fire. But the truth was, he hadn't. He wasn't burned or anything. Just a little annoyed. Besides, the fire was BLUE. That's right, blue. And it wasn't even normal blue. It was more like an indigo. Something was definitely freaky here, wherever _here_ was. And why did everyone look Asian?

Oh, joy, they were done apparently. The english-speaking one began to explain everything. According to miss generic-asian-woman she was in the Yamani Ilses. Great. Just where was that? Unfortunately, before she got the chance to ask, the woman had gone off on a tangent about the rudeness of dropping into the Emperor's gardens out of nowhere, unannounced.

They were on a street now. Didn't anyone _smile_ here? They all just eyed her with polite curiosity, as if she were some thing they would look at at the zoo, and then leave her after less than a minute to go look at other, more extraordinary, animals. FUN.

They were coming up to a building now, a big tall one with sweeping roofs and wide windows. Generic-Asian-Lady, who had introduced herself as Chinkakomi, showed her through a screen door and handed her a beautiful kimono, a pink one embroidered with white and purple cherry blossoms. At least she thought they were cherry blossoms. She put it one, with some difficulty, and walked out from behind the screen/door, only to have it dismissed and another one placed in her arms. It was a good thing she knew how to put these things on. All those Japanese lessons finally paid off. But this wasn't Japan, or China, or any other Asian country. It was more like a mix of them all, the perfect Asian stereotype. Except it had it's own flares of art and culture here and there. Like those cute little waving cats. _They_ certainly weren't familiar to any Asian country she knew of.

Alix was brought out of this reverie by Chinkakomi handing her the most gorgeous piece of apparel she had ever seen. A turqouise blue kimone, embroidered with green and yellow turtles. It was simply perfect. Chinkakomi apparently thought so, too.

"NOW you are fit to stay at the Emperor's palace.", she said, with a slight upturn to one corner of her mouth, barely visible, which Alix took to be a smile of approval.

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It was dawn. She had waited all night for dawn, and now that it was here, she wanted it to go away. Manpreet was dead tired from staying awake on that bench all night. And now that she WANTED to be awake, she wasn't. Just her luck. All the women and men who past her took one look at her unveiled face and turned away their eyes in shocked disapproval. As Melody would say, Sweet Jesus, where am I?!

This thought made her laugh. People were no longer looking at her like a bum, but more like a time bomb, as if she would explode any second. Maybe it was laughing at nothing part that made them do that. Yeah, that must be it.

She heard a voice. not particularly shocking in this noisy place. But the odd thing was, she thought she had heard someone speak in English. She jumped up. The voice was still talking. She ran through beautifully paved streets, busted up alleys, and perfectly average roads, searching for the speaker. Wait a second. There was another! And one more! It was a whole company of English speakers!!! Just one more turn...and...there they were, pale skin standing out against their contrasting hair and richly colored clothes.

She skidded to a halt just in time. landing squarely in front of the tall, black-haired one, who seemed to be the leader. He eyed her curiously, taking in the veil-less face, the large brown eyes, and the strange breeches. Why were they blue?

"I'm sorry but I don't know where I am, and I heard you speaking English, so I thought maybe you could help me find my way home." , she said in one breath, panting heavily from her run.

"Excuse me, but what was your name again?", asked the tall man.

"Manpreet.", she replied.

He seemed to study her for another long minute, as if thinking about what to do with her. "Alright, come with us. You said you're lost? You are in Carthak, my dear, in the capital city." She looked at him as if to say, what the heck are you talking about? He sighed heavily, realizing that this girl was definitely not from around here, no matter how much she looked like she was.

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Augh. They didn't have a phone. They didn't even know what a phone WAS. What they did have, however, was a lot of livestock, children, and dirt. And trees. Lots of trees. Shae vaguely remembered seeing an old-fashioned wood stove like the one her great-grandmother used to have over in Europe. But at least great-grandma had a _phone_, too. How was she supposed to find her friends now?

She ambled along to the next house. And the next. And the next. And so on and so forth. NONE of them had a telephone. Not one. Geez, how primitive could you get?

As she walked through the town, or what was supposed to be a town and was more like a small village, she caught snatches and scraps of conversation. _Hmm_. What was that strange accent? It was vaguely similar to the one Melody sometimes got when she was angry or frustrated, but it wasn't the same. Her's had more of a twang to it. _What was it?_

_'Was that a motel up there? Oh, excuse me, an **inn.'**_, she thought wryly to herself. She nickered out loud and got some rather disapproving glares from people that seemed to be directed at her jeans. She sighed at the strangeness of this place and walked up to the door of the...what was it called? She looked up at the sign above the door. It had The Lonely Wolf Inn and Tavern painted on it in bright red letters. Underneath it in green was a smaller sign that claimed this place had 'Snowsdale's Finest Ale'. Huh. Shae thought that ale didn't even exist anymore, but apparently, she was wrong.

She stepped into the tavern/inn and out of the cold. Maybe one of the waitresses could tell her where she was, or rather, where Snowsdale was. "Miss? Hi. Sorry, but could you tell me where I am?", she asked, breaking out her polite voice that she saved only for special occasions.

The girl gave her a funny look, as if she were stupid or something, and replied in a hideously condescending tone, "Why, you're in Snowsdale, miss."

She had that accent, too. Great. And there was that 'Snowsdale' again. And a fat lot of good that did her. Now she was really regretting falling asleep during her geography lessons. If only she had a map, she could figure out where this Snowsdale place was. AUGH!!!! This was so frustrating.

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Lindsay sat in a big comfy chair, wondering what her friends were doing right now. Probably out there somewhere having fun without her. No, they wouldn't do that. they would look for her, right?

The lady from earlier, Thayet, she said her name was, had listened to her story without interrupting, although that didn't stop the other three from chiming in with their two cents about some of what she said. Right now, the redheaded Alanna person was trying to talk to someone through a little black ball that she said was a speaking spell. Apparently that was something else that they had here that was weird, next to kings and queens and servants and castles and knights. Magic.

She listened to the little black ball, finally hearing another voice, a male oe, saying something about a place called Carthak and a girl that apparently didn't belong there. Huh. Sounded kind of like Lindsay's situation, didn't it?

As she listened the description of this strange girl, she jumped up in realization. Manpreet. That's who the girl was. She tugged on Thayet's sleeve like a child clinging to her mother, and told her about how the girl the man was describing was her friend. Thayet snatched away the ball from Alanna and spoke into it.

"Numair, we have a similar predicament here. It seems one of that girl's friends is here right now, Lindsay something-or-other."

In the background of white noise coming through the ball, Lindsay heard, finally, a familiar voice shout, "Lindsay!", and she knew that at least one of her friends was OK, and that was good enough for now.

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A/N: Hehe... I did actually memorize that song. I'm such a dork. The little blue button is very nice. his name is Frederick. Frederick particularly likes it when you poke him with a pointy arrow and type things inside his friend the blue box called William.


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